Anyone else with a spouse that won't dive?

[katdiver]

You could always try my remedy, but it's a little extreem. I love diving and teaching scuba, she loves to snorkel and both being outgoing.......... we bought a dive centre! By the way I am looking for an active partner to buy into the business so.........

 

[B.L. Justice]

My wife tried to learn scuba in high school. She did fine with the intro stuff in the pool but when it came time for the wetsuit over the head, whe discovered that she gets real claustrophobic. It freaked her out and she never went back.

I have offered to but her a dry suit if she will take it up again - not a snow ball's chance in hell. She loves to warm water snorkle and would do a warm water hooka but she isn't gonna dive and that is final!

When we go on crises and to tropical destinations, I get to do a dive or two (to shut me up, I think) as long as we get "family time." I can't wait until my son (6yr old) is old enough to dive. Mama is gonna have lots of alone time cause me and The Bear are going dive'n.

 

[Aquabear]

I just got my SSI OW and my wife does not know how to swim. I will be teaching her how to swim this summer, and then I will get her to try snorkle so she gets used to the idea of breathing under water. She told me that if she is able to feel comfortable in the water that she will try to do "the scuba thing" I am pretty sure that I will have a permanent dive budy for next year. Also the wife of my current budy is gonna do the course next summer so that helps me a lot. Lets see how that goes

Good luck! I have to say that diving with my wife is a great shared experience. She didn't swim- had a fear of swimming/not touching the ground, which I heard was common. I taught her to swim, float n all and tried to make it fun for her. We then snorkeled in Puerto Rico and Florida and she loved it. Then before our honeymoon to Hawaii I scheduled the Manta Ray night dive and showed her a video of it. No way, she said did she want to miss out on it so she got her OW cert days before we left. It was awesome to dive together. I went with her to the OW class and assisted the Instructor with the class but let her do things on her own, I didn't want to be a crutch for her.
Maybe you can schedule a trip- some goal for her to strive for as a kind a reward for getting her OW ccard.
Other than training/practice dives in Dutch Springs quarry we only dive around warmer waters. I dive in NY but it can get rough so I actually like her not coming it can get rough with 8' vis and stong currents.

Good luck!

 

[SkydiverChick]

Question for the guys....If the situation were reversed (as it is in mine) and your wife did things like Scuba, skydiving etc and you had no interest in it, would it bother you when she does these things? I'm just curious and trying to understand where he's coming from.

 

[jjhill]

My wife is a non-diver but after a few years she is coming around. Last year she did a discover dive with me and enjoyed it. She wants to take her OW course next summer when the Canadian waters warm up a bit. She's not a cold fan.

I'm pretty lucky though. She knows I love to dive and even though she never sees herself getting as involved as I am she wants to learn to do an occasional dive with me.

I feel extra lucky to have her when my diving uncle called me up a few months ago and asked if I wanted to take a trip to Cozumel for a week of diving with him. My wife said "Sure go ahead" so I took off for a week of Mexico diving leaving her in the Canadian winter, with 3 kids one of which was our new 4 month old baby. I think I've got it pretty good.

 

[austriandiveress]

DiverDurf, you said that your wife is afraid that she would "slow your down". I can relate to her feelings, because I stared diving when I met my boyfriend, who has 1000+ dives. The first dives were certainly not great for either of us, but once I started getting the hang of things we were able to dive together without problems. Now I am able to keep up with him on almost all his dives, (even though my skills arent as developed as his, obviously) and have developed enough physical strenth to carry around my own gear, which wasnt the case during the first few months.
That said I know of a couple where he dives, she refuses. This is simply not an issue for them: sometimes she goes on the boat, sometimes not. And he'll soemtimes take afternoon off from diving to go sightseeing, whatever. It was discussed a long time ago, and they have no problems with it.

 

[Theunis]

I was a certified diver when I've met my wife and she got certified a few years later. She was never comfortable in the water struggling with numerous issues like buoyancy, air consumption, etc. During a night dive in Badgat, South Africa (That is an open cast mine) she panicked and vowed never to dive again, and she didn't.

My wife understands my desire to dive and respects that and I respect my wife's decision not to dive. Nowadays I'm basically a vacation diver and I also try to do the early morning dive spending the rest of the day with my family.

 

[Theunis]

I was a certified diver when I've met my wife and she got certified a few years later. She was never comfortable in the water struggling with numerous issues like buoyancy, air consumption, etc. During a night dive in Badgat, South Africa (That is an open cast mine) she panicked and vowed never to dive again, and she didn't.

My wife understands my desire to dive and respects that and I respect my wife's decision not to dive. Nowadays I'm basically a vacation diver and I also try to do the early morning dive spending the rest of the day with my family.

 

[Theunis]

Sorry about the double post, well now it's a triple post. I don't know why this is happening I will ask site support.

 

[DiverDurf]

Question for the guys....If the situation were reversed (as it is in mine) and your wife did things like Scuba, skydiving etc and you had no interest in it, would it bother you when she does these things? I'm just curious and trying to understand where he's coming from.

Well, for me, it wouldn't bother me in the least. I know that if my wife took up something that really interested her it would be exactly that (meaning no underlying intentions other than the activity itself). A little background on us: we have been married for twelve years, my wife is an introvert, and she has very few friends to go out with. I am the opposite but it works well for us. I cherish our time together and really wish we could enjoy the sport together, but I think snorkeling and bubble watching is going to be the extent of her water activity while I'm diving. I'm good with that, and was just curious how everyone else balances their non-diving partners.